Renaldo solano



I (No Model.)

B. SOLANO.

RAILWAY GAR.

No. 437,729. Patented Oct. 7, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RENALDO SOLANO, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF TlVO-THIRDS TO JOHNlV. HOWARD AND DAVID R. MORSE, BOTII OF SAME PLACE.

RAI LWAY-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 437,729, dated October'7, 1890.

Application filed May 7, 1889. Serial No. 309,940. (No model.)

'.l0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RENALDO SOLANO, a c tizen of the United States,residing at the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Oars,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for retaining the buffer-plates ofadjacent railway-cars togetherin frictional contact, whereby thetendency of the cars to a jostling orswaying movement relatively to oneanother is checked, the necessary yielding motions of the plates beingespecially provided for by means of my 1 5 said invention.

The invention relates particularly to the buffer plates or framesadapted for use in vestibuled trains, in which a continuous inclosedpassageway is provided between the cars, the

said buffer plates or frames extending the height of the car and beingadapted to allow of head-room to permit the passage of persons throughthem.

The invention is, however, applicable to any form whatever of frictionalbuffer-plates between the abutting ends of railway-cars adapted to givea yielding motion of compression or expansion upon opposite sides of theplatforms when the cars are rounding a curve of the road.

Ileretofore backing-springs have been employed to compress the adjacentfaces of the buffer-plates in frictional contact, and equalizing-levershave been employed to compen- 3 5 sate for the required oscillatingmovement of retracting movements of the same in theirbearings second, toprovide a means of perfectly equalizing the pressure upon opposite sidesof the frames when the cars are upon a curve, an d,.third, to provideconvenient means of increasing or decreasing the pressure upon thebuffer-plates or of relieving such pressure entirely.

My invention consists, first, in retaining the buffer-plates upon oneanother by means of compressed air, the pressure being admitted topiston-cylinders located opposite the plates or otherwise connected withthem; second, in compensating for the tilting of the said plates by freecommunication of such compressed air within separate cylinders, and,third, in imparting or relieving such pressure 6 5 from a controllablesource of supply-namely, the brake-pipe or other train-pipe to which anair-reservoir or compressor and a reliefvalve are connected.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention applied to vestibuledcars, of which- Figure 1 is a plan View, partly in section, of thecoupled ends of two cars, the portion of the figure at the rightrepresenting the frame of the roof, the sheathing being removed, theportion at the left being taken in sectional planes, respectively, aboveand beneath the platform of the car. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of theplatform and vestibule, partly removed, looking from the body of the carto I ward the end thereof, showing the bufierplate, the cylinders, andthe air-pipe connections.

A represents the transverse beam terminat- 8 5 ing the body of the car,and Bthe buffer-beam of the plaform.

C O are the walls of the vestibule, D the buIfer-platcs, and F theflexible connection between the said walls and plates.

D is the movable still of the frames D.

E E are the piston-cylinders located near the tops of the cars, and E Ethose located beneath the platforms, all connecting by means ofpiston-rods a with the two upper 5 and two lower corners of thebuifer-plates D D. The ends of the piston-rods are swiveled at Z) to thesaid plates to allow of the oscillation of the latter, and the backs ofthe cylinders may also be connected to suitable parts 100 of the carframe-work by swivel-joints, such as those indicated at e, and throughwhich the pipe-connections are made to constantly connect in rear of thepistons cl. As a more simple form of construction, the cylinders may berigidly fixed to the frame-work, the flexibility of the piston-rodscompensating for the slight arc of movement of their swiveled ends.Moreover, the cylinders E or E may be located in any other suitablepositions than those shown as, for instance, vertically or transverselyto the carsuitable mechanical connections being made to impart theproper direction of motion to the frames D.

H is the brake-pipe or other air-pipe, having the usual flexiblecouplings, conducting the compressed air the entire length of the trainfrom asuitable reservoir and compressor, such as that pertaining to theair-brakes.

1- represents a pressure-reducing and check valve, of any suitable orwell-known construction, having for its function to admit a uniform andcomparatively moderate pressure to the cylindersE E ,irrespective of thegreater or less fluctuations of pressure in the pipe H while the brakesare being operated; also to compensate leakage and to prevent the returnof air to the brakepipe when the said cylinders are in operation.

The several cylinder-pipes g g are connected at one or both ends of thecar bya pipe f, and the same pressure is thereby exerted in all of thecylinders. The volume of air contained within the cylinders and pipes fand g is sufficient not to be materially increased or decreased inpressure by the slight simultaneous movement of all the pistons in onedirection, such as incident to the jostling or longitudinal movement ofthe cars relatively to each 7 other. A suitable expansion-chamber or en;largement may, however, be provided in con nection with the pipe f, iffound necessary, in order to effect the required purpose of nonvariablepressure, which is an important fea ture of the invention. The expandingmovement of the one side of the buffer-frames and the contractingmovement of the opposite side thereof, being substantially equal whenthe cars pass upon a curve, will not vary the pressure by the stroke ofthe pistons produced, however considerable the length of such strokethat may occur.

In operation the faces of the buffer-plates stand normally beyond theends of the cars when the latter are uncoupled, and the plates may becompressed in the act of coupling if the cylinders are kept permanentlycharged. When springs are employed, should they be adjusted to exert astrong pressure, the concussion required in the act of coupling to forcethe buffer-plates back and connect the couplers is considerable,limiting, therefore, the strength practicably given tothe-backingsprings. An obvious advantage of my invention consists inthat the buffer-plates may be free from pressure, the air in thecylinders E E being relieved, allowing the pistons to retract untilsubsequent to the act of coupling the cars, whereupon the act ofcharging the brake-pipe from the engineers operatingvalve will compressall the buffer plates throughout the train simultaneously with anydesired amount of force, such force being lim-' ited only by theadjustment of the reducing valve I.

A suitable escape-cockt' or other releasingvalve may be provided to thepipe f, to be opened when the cars are uncoupled, or the reducing-valveI may be so constructed as to relieve the pipe f when pressure is whollydlscharged from the train-pipe H.

'It is to be noted that my invention is applicable either to thevertically-arranged butterplates shown or to equivalent series ofbufferplates variously located upon the superstructure, as well as thebuffer-beam of the car, or to buffers independent of the couplerslocated upon or beneath the platform only. It is also to be noted thatthe amount of pressure exerted upon the plates may be made variable indue proportion to the load upon the cars and the consequent amount ofinertia which is to be resisted in the act of accelerating or decreasingthe speed. It is to be observed, moreover, that flexible diaphragms orbellowsshaped expansible chambers are to be considered as the mechanicalequivalent of the cylinders claimed herein and as included within theintended scope of the invention.

What I claim as my invention, and desir to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, in a railway-car, with a single buffer-plate lyingin a plane transverse to the body of the car, projecting normally beyondthe end thereof, piston-cylinders or equivalent operative to advanceportions of said buffer-plate at opposite sides of the center of thecar, a connecting .pipe or pipes between the said opposite cylindersforequalizing pressure, and a supply-pipe connecting the whole with acontrollable source of pressure or means of exhaust.

2. The combination, in a railway-car, of a buffer or buifers, a pistoncylinder or cylin-' ders, or their equivalent, the air-brake pipe, aconnecting-pipe between said brake-pipe and said cylinder or cylinders,and an automatic pressure reducing and regulating valve interposed insaid connecting-pipe, whereby of a vestibule car, of piston cylindersand pistons having universal joint connection with said buffer-frame,and a supply-pipe for admitting pressure to or exhausting saidcylinders, whereby the buffer-frames may be held in contact by aregulated or controllable pressure.

' RENALDO SOLANO.

Witnesses:

H. F. PARKER, J. H. MURPHY.

